Movie review: ‘Bye Bye Germany’ asserts the power of the human spirit

Al Alexander More Content Now

Thursday

May 17, 2018 at 11:33 AMMay 17, 2018 at 11:33 AM

I urge everyone to seek out director Sam Garbarski’s enlightening Holocaust dramedy, “Bye Bye Germany.” But the two descendants of immigrants I wish most to see it are Donald Trump and his xenophobic sidekick, Stephen Miller. The chances are slim it would change their closed minds, but one can hope this moving story of Jewish refugees in 1946 Frankfort would convince them that victims of war, especially one as cruel and deadly as World War II, are a traumatized bunch desperately in need of a change of scene. And no land looks more inviting to those poor souls who’ve lost everything — including parents and siblings — than the promise of milk and honey in the United States.

Just substitute Syria or Somalia for Germany and suddenly Garbarski’s tale of broken people trying to pick themselves up off the mat speaks with immediacy and urgency. We, as a country, are what the rest of the world sees as the ultimate relief for broken lives, empty wallets and lost souls. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, as the song goes. And it’s that panacea the seven refugees concocted by Garbarski and his co-writer Michel Bergmann pursue with cunning, vigor and joy, albeit just a smidge outside the law. Their leader is David Bermann (“Run Lola Run’s” Moritz Bleibtreu), the only member of his large family of linen magnets to survive the concentration camps. More on how he did that in a moment.

Now free, but with no prospects, he — in true heist-film tradition — recruits a band of merry men to carry out his scheme to get his new buds rich enough quick enough to buy their way to America. It involves black marketing high-end linens — at even higher-end prices — to gullible German homemakers. Their snake-oil spiels are charming fun; almost as enjoyable as watching the boys bond as friends and co-conspirators. But there’s a dark side to all this frivolity, and that would be David’s questionable past. Sent to separate rumor from truth is a German-speaking Army intelligence officer (the gorgeous Antje Traue) who doesn’t suffer lightly her wisecracking suspect.

Their go-rounds are interspersed with scenes of David and his boys bilking their customers in hopes of using the ill-gotten dough to facilitate their American dreams. And those somewhat sexually heated interrogations account for all of the film’s best moments, as Traue’s Special Agent Sara Simon digs for the truth of how David managed to survive Sachsenhausen, the death camp where an estimated 100,000 souls were exterminated. He says it was because he told funny jokes that endeared him to the camp’s ruthless chief (Christian Kmiotek). But she rightly suspects there’s far more to the story, right up to him possibly being groomed to be Hitler’s court jester.

In a word, David’s story is riveting. You hang on every syllable of his testimony, trying to sort fact from fiction, as Sara seeks to prove he was a kapo who sold out his fellow Jews to save himself. Even more intriguing: If he was a kapo, how are we to judge him? As a traitor? Or as a firm believer in self-preservation? And is any of it really his fault, considering the dastardly way the Nazis did business?

These and other fascinating questions add another layer to what is already a terrific story of overcoming grief, loss and guilt in an effort to start over after losing everything. Like I said, it’s quite moving. But it’s also a wakeup call to what must be going through the minds of the millions of Islamic refugees who — like the Jews in Germany — were ousted from their homes and forced to fend for themselves in an apathetic world that chose to look away as atrocities played out unchecked.

Don’t, however, allow that to make you of the mind that “Bye Bye Germany” is a downer. If anything, it’s the opposite, asserting the power of the human spirit to fight on against impossible odds. And it’s done among some of the most authentic-looking sets I’ve seen in films endeavoring to recreate the bombed-out metropolises of post-war Germany. Equally strong, is an ensemble cast led by Bleibtreu that nails every line with power and conviction.

If there’s a fault, it’s that “Bye Bye Germany” is too short at 95 minutes, rendering scenes — like when David’s mates uncover why he’s being interrogated — that feel underdeveloped. But for the most part, Garbarski delivers a story that stands out in a sea of Holocaust sagas that, while important, take on sameness. This one is unique because it explores an element of the tragedy not often visited. Even better, it makes you think, not just what transpired in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, but what’s occurring the world over today. And what’s sad, is how quickly we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a man without not just a home but a country; particularly in an environment where refugees have worn out their welcome, and done it through no fault of their own.